Political corruption has
destroyed far too many countries; we cannot let it destroy ours.

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ThrowTheRascalsOut.org

A Wisconsin Grass
Roots Movement

for a major shakeup in Madison and
Washington!

So the Dems
failed to pass political reform, and they lost Wisconsin and the
House of Representatives as a result. Why are they surprised? Will
the R's now do it or must we throw them out too?.

This
year's priority?

At the state level, the
Risser-Pocan Clean Elections bill and the Pocan Ranked Choice
Voting bill.

At the federal level, the
Durbin-Specter-Tierney Fair Elections Now Act bill and the Conyers
Medicare-for-all bill (HR676).

AND...

100% turnover in November
Public funding of campaigns
Term limits (double the length, limit to ONE)
5 year restrictions on lobbying (member and staff)
reforms on redistricting
Implement STOCK Act
Members subject to all laws they pass for the people

This
Power Point Presentation by Buck Smith on Governor
Walker's jobs program is to help people understand private sector job
growth in Wisconsin in 2010-2011 and the impact on Wisconsin's economy
after passing Walker's budget with a great deal of other information
about what has gone on in Wisconsin in 2011.

All
that is necessary for the triumph of evil, is for good men to do nothing.

"Politicians are like diapers. They should both be changed frequently and for
the same reason."

Author unknown

Why throw them out?

Because there's hardly a good politician among them.
They've mastered the art of rhetoric; telling us what we want to
hear, when we want to hear it, and then going back to Madison and
voting exactly as the moneyed interests want them to vote. Not the
way you and I, the voters and taxpayers, want them to vote, but how
the special interests who fund their elections tell them to vote.

So regardless of your party, until we achieve a
clean electoral system we must force another major
turnover in the state capital. We need voter-imposed term limits.
Give the new ones two terms, but throw the rest out (unless they
have performed well and on behalf of the voters).

Note
that this site may seem harsher on Republicans, but it is based 100%
on their legislative votes.
It just so happens that they more than the Democrats have blocked ethics
and campaign reform.
Only they can change that.

If you are one of the 88% of the public -- described
in a recent nonpartisan poll -- who believes that politicians vote
either for personal interests or for the interests of their campaign
funders, this web site is for you. If you are one of the 6% who have
their representatives on a pedestal and believe they vote only on behalf of the
people, well, quit reading and go watch TV.

Okay, 100% of them aren't bad and some of them are
really trying. But the truth is, those numbers
closely mirror the ratio of bad politicians (94%) to good
politicians (6%). It is a precious few who are hard-working
and deserving, and the balance have to go. We've graded them
based on their reform votes. Nothing else, because nothing else
really matters.

Why should you care?

Because Wisconsin is the 3rd highest taxed
state in the nation, while corporations are the 3rd lowest.

Because letting private interests fund our
electoral process is
costing $1300 per taxpayer in government giveaways to the
special interests that provide the cash.

Because health care costs are 10% higher
than other states and 15% of our people have no health care
at all. This is because health care interests
give $1.4 million yearly in campaign contributions to block
meaningful reforms and a universal health care system. They
want the system kept broken.

And because 88% of you do care, and just
don't know where or how to fix it. We hope to help that
process. We need new blood in our state capital.

Money buys legislation. Not good legislation,
because that doesn't need to be bought. For special
interests to get passed bad legislation that benefits them over the
taxpayers they must give hefty campaign contributions, and that's the
process that must be changed.

Importantly, Republican taxpayers didn't "win"
when they voted in Republicans. The Democrats lost because
people are MAD, and in 2012 the Republicans will lose unless
they fix the bipartisan corruption.

As the private money has increased in politics,
the integrity of the profession has decreased to a 15%
acceptance level.

Also understand this: We
are not going to get our politician's
attention until we start affecting their jobs at the polls. We
must
throw them out of office, and we must start with those who
have decent challengers in 2012!

Just think about the
issues for a moment:

Smoking in Daycare Centers

When Tommy Thompson was governor it took health
advocates THREE YEARS to get smoking out of daycare centers!
Yeah, it's old news but it illustrates the powerful effect of
political payola. What should have been a
no-brainer was a horrendous battle. Why? Because Thompson and the state legislature were
owned and operated by Philip Morris, and the new regime still is. The tobacco giant gave
Tommy $160,000 in contributions and numerous free trips to
Badger ball
games, South Africa and Australia (too bad they were not
one-way). See
www.wish-wi.org/Thompson_Trips.html

Campaign Reform

Governor
Jim Doyle was just as bad; perhaps even worse
than Thompson.
Having run on the promise of campaign finance reform, he supported a weak reform bill instead of one that will work. He
liked things just as they are.

There are only two kinds of campaign money, public and private.
The difference between them is that private money requires a
quid pro quo, where taxpayer assets must be returned to the giver.
And it is to the tune of $1300 per taxpayer per year. That's a lot to
pay for a corrupt political system.

Because the health care industry gives $1.4 million
per year to our senate and assembly members, universal health
care has not seen the light of day in Wisconsin. For the same amount
of money we spend today on hospitals and physician visits we could
have a health care system that eliminates the bureaucratic waste and cover 100%
of the people instead of the 85% we cover today. But money works
wonders. A Medicare-for-all system would allow us to select our
doctor and hospital just as we do today, but have only one company
administer the paperwork (for 10%) rather than 400 insurance companies with
all of their complexities and inefficiencies at a cost of 31%. For more information
see
www.ThrowTheRascalsOut.org/health_care.htm and
www.WiCleanElections.org/SinglePayerMyths.pdf.

Voter-Owned Elections

If politicians are to be beholden to their funders, those
funders should be the taxpayers. Look, the special interests are
contributing about $5 per taxpayer per year to fund the legislative and
gubernatorial elections, and in return they receive about $1300 per
taxpayer in the form of tax breaks, state subsidies and no-bid
contracts.

As taxpayers, let's pay that $5 ourselves and eliminate the $1300 in
giveaways. That's called
voter-owned elections, or in Arizona and Maine they call it Clean
Money Clean Elections. For more on this system see
www.WiCleanElections.org

Road Contractors

Remember when legislators were crunching every taxpayer service they
could to reduce the budget deficit a couple years ago? Heartwarming,
wasn't it? Did you also know that at the very same time they were
ADDING $70 million to the road contractor's budget? That's
what campaign contributions can do for an industry. Some roads are
needed and some are not, but taxpayers pay through the nose for the latter.

One good example was the Highway 45 and Good Hope Interchange. Yes, it
needed repaving. But for 10-to-20 times the expense they totally redesigned
and rebuilt it. The Appleton Avenue exit that was on the left is now on
the right, but we have the same two northbound lanes and same two
southbound lanes that we began with. Some call it progress; I call
it payola.

If you need more convincing see Wisconsin Democracy Campaign's
reports at:

And finally, click
Senate or
Assembly to see if your representative has a challenger that you can
support.

But don't just support the challengers, rally your friends and social
groups to join in ousting the incumbents.

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subject line

Worth Noting: "Not since the
robber-baron era have income and wealth been as concentrated as they are
today. This doesn't threaten shareholders; after all, most shares are
held by the wealthy. It threatens democracy, as the wealthy uses their
fortunes to bankroll politicians who tilt public policies in the
direction of the wealthy -- by, say, reducing their taxes and cutting
public services for everyone else. It also threatens our economy, as
more and more investment decisions are made by fewer and fewer people,
and as the middle class loses its capacity to pay for the goods and
services the economy produces." -- Robert B. Reich, The American Prospect,
April 2007

Disclaimer:
This site is independent of all candidates and parties, who may
agree or not agree with its contents.

Disclosure:
I am a center-right Republican that voted for Bush twice
(though at this point I wish I could have a do-over), and for John
McCain. But the
Republicans look worse here because they are/were in power and the party
blocking reform. Next year it may be the Democrats taking center
stage. Were I to have a political choice it would be
for a strong third-party reform candidate in all seats. I do
not like our very costly and ineffective duopoly. Jack Lohman